1-800-Lok8: The Loki Adventures, #8

By Dawn Blair

Loki never let Jason draw a rune before. Bad time to start now.

Loki takes pleasure in the simple tasks of life on Midgard, details most humans rush through. However, Jason… not amused by Loki's leisurely pace.

Already late for an important business meeting, Jason prods the resistant Loki along.

But when Loki, as another means of stalling, draws the rune Isa out of the velvet bag and Jason pulls Laguz, Loki realizes his stationary place as a boulder in a river while Jason tumbles helplessly. With events in motion, Loki must act fast.

Race with Loki in this brilliant urban fantasy to move quicker than the runes' prediction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Morning Sky Studios
• Release date: Dec 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201881887

Dawn Blair

Come take an adventure with your multi-dimensional, time-traveling tour guide, Dawn Blair. Telling stories of noble hearts and fantastic places, Dawn enjoys creating stories full of action, fantasy, quests, and maybe a touch of technology.  For as long as she can remember, she's been telling stories, starting with tales of cats and dogs. No one ever dared to ask her to "imagine" something because it would send her creativity spinning. One fateful day, her grandmother, certainly tired of listening to the endless prater, sat Dawn down at a typewriter and told her to write the story out.  Growing up on a ranch in rural Nevada, she had plenty of time and space to let her imagination roam free. When she wasn't out playing or working in the alfalfa fields or swimming at the pool, she was at home typing away at her novels.  Dawn moved to Idaho and, after a second fateful day where an instructor taught her to see as an artist, her life expanded to include other creative endeavors: painting, illustrating, animating, and photography in addition to writing. They all became mediums for the way she could share stories. Soon, she had won numerous awards for writing, painting, and photography, as well as gaining readers and collectors worldwide. All while raising her two fantastic boys as a single mom.  Dawn decided to start recording audiobooks. Knowing nothing about the process, she began learning and transformed a simple home setup into a home studio, a sequence marked by a third fateful day in her life when she decided to quit dabbling and get serious. Dawn aims for improving her audio with each narrative tale she completes. Still in Idaho, Dawn spends every moment she can exploring strange worlds, seeking out brave lives and magical civilizations. She wants to touch your life with magic, open your mind, and make sure you will never be the same again. Let her show you the sights. Let's be on our way, shall we? Sign up for your adventures at: www.dawnblair.com

Book preview

Chapter 1

Idab toothpaste onto the bristles of my new toothbrush and smile broadly. As I set the bristles on my teeth, I close my eyes. Gently, I sweep the brush over my pearly whites and rub in slow circles over the gums, letting myself have a nice little mouth massage.

Yes, even gods brush their teeth.

I am Loki of Midgard and today I am taking pleasure in the simple things.

For most humans, I have noticed, these everyday tasks to care for oneself usually get rushed through like a checklist: shower, done; pee, done; brush teeth, done; brush hair, done. There is no thanking of the body that does these things. Thank you skin for caring for me and keeping me free of infections; may you remain clean and healthy. Thank you bladder and bowel for removing unneeded materials and waste from my body; may you remain clear and healthy. Thank you teeth for being strong so that I may eat, and gums for holding those teeth in; may you be clean and healthy. Thank you hair for shining fabulously; may you glisten and attract the woman who will ease this banished god’s lonely nights.

Okay, so that last one might be a bit of a stretch, but you get my point. At least I hope you do.

I do not hurry through the task of brushing my teeth. This is by far the most relaxing and joyous thing I will be doing today.

Loki! Jason calls through the house. Hurry up, would you? We’re going to be late.

And with that, the world crashs in upon my leisure and the calm vibrations of my thoughts.

I spit the suds from my mouth, sigh, and rinse the brush. I begin to swish it around my mouth again. Wax on, wax off, I think to myself.

Patience, young grasshopper, we will get to karate soon.

Little does Jason know that his plans for the day are exactly the sort of thing I want to be late for.

Loki!

I spit and swish some fresh water around in my mouth, spitting one last time. Nice and clean.

With a hand towel pulled from the rack, I pat my face and lips dry. I fold it carefully, leisurely, and hang it back over the bar. Then, with a deep, fortifying breath, I unlock the door and step out into my earth-toned bedroom. The maid has yet to come in and pull the curtains open, so the light on the beige fabric helps to cast a soft orange tone into the room.

Jason stands there in the doorway, having just entered. I can tell he was about to knock on the bathroom door.

Do you have an electric toothbrush? I ask him.

The question serves to whip his irritation to distraction. Electric toothbrush?

Yes. I’ve been thinking about getting one, but you know, all those warnings about not using electricity around water. I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem very safe. I check the straightness of my emerald green and gold-flecked black tie in my full-length mirror.

Jason realizes I’ve waylaid him. Why must we always be late for these meetings? he snips.

Because I don’t like them, I reply dryly and I pull the length of my white hair pulled back into a pony tail forward over my shoulder.

He grabs my jacket off the bed and holds it open for me to slip my arms into. I know that, but you do realize that the sooner we get there, the sooner it will be over.

It takes the same amount of time either way, so I might as well not worry about being late or not. I flip my hair back now that my jacket is on.

Other people would appreciate it if you would respect their time, you know?

And I would love to be respected as a god. Maybe someday we’ll both get our wishes. I pull on the front folds of the jacket to make it sit correctly on my shoulders and fasten one of the buttons. I catch a glimpse of myself in the full-length mirror. Smiling, I place hand on flat stomach. Perfect.

If you really want respect, then you must respect someone else first. Try it.

I watch Jason’s back as he leaves the room ahead of me. What a right fit mood he’s in today. I wonder who toasted his Twinkie already this morning. Well, this might turn out to be an interesting day.

My briefcase sits on the island counter in the kitchen alongside a glass of water and my car keys. Jason did have time to prep, didn’t he? He must have come in while I was still in the shower. I pick up the glass, I give it a bit of personal chill before I drink the whole thing.

Ready? Jason asks impatiently.

Almost. I cross over toward my living room and pick up a little bag sitting there. Reaching in, I draw a rune from inside.

Jason sighs audibly behind me.

My rune is a straight line: Isa. Now most people think Isa is equivalent to being frozen in ice. Right now, I know it comes because I am reluctant to move toward this meeting. In my case, ice and being at a still point is not a bad thing. But perhaps there is more.

I drop the rune back into the bag and hold it out toward Jason. Come draw a rune.

Time, Loki?

There is always time to focus on the moment at hand. Sometimes our perspective of the present yields a large view for the road ahead. But we can only discover it by coming to a standstill.

Jason stares blankly at me and even I have a wow moment. Was that not just a complete summation of Isa? Jason needed to pull a rune.

It was not something I let just anyone do. I don’t like other people’s energies mixing with my runes. Bad mojo happens from that. So why now?

I nearly pull another rune to find the answer to that question, but Jason had already crossed over to me and is about to stick his hand in the bag. I couldn’t stop whatever energy had possessed him to proceed as I’d asked. I wonder if he felt as bound by this energy as I did.

Jason’s hand rummages in the leather bag and I feel his fingers stirring the stones. At last, he pulls one out and holds it on his flat palm. It looks sort of like a pointy fishing hook. Laguz.

Well? Jason asks.

"I’m at